Wonder Floating Free

Product Description

Lara-Jane. A music-loving-guitar-toting-movie-buff... reformed-chocolate-addict-nature-girl... mildly-obsessive-compulsive-clothes-peg-colour-coordinator... night-owl-arty-chick-lover-of-mangoes & generally shy kind of person who, paradoxically, loves performing for people. Born in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane (QLD, Australia) in the early 80's, Lara-Jane spent much of her young life whiling away the days with her brother, creating magical worlds out of whatever they had. Doonas could easily be transformed into igloos, ice-cream tubs became swimming pools that one could snorkel in for hours (literally). It was a beautiful time when the purpose of life was basically just to play as much as possible for as long as possible. Growing up in the 80's and 90's, however, was not all fun and games. Lara-Jane was one of many children scarred for life by the constant painful and unnecessary fashion choices of those adults who should have known better. Aside from this cruel and not so unusual torture, life was fairly cushy. Her parents, avid music fans and musicians themselves, instilled in her a great love of music and contributed greatly to her eclectic taste. Playing and performing around campfires, family gatherings and Sunday school was her training ground and as such, she will always hold a very special place in her heart for the I, IV, V chord progression. Performing from a young age, Lara-Jane has developed an ease and comfort with the audience and a unique and engaging stage presence. Singing is Lara-Jane's main thing, but she also plays piano and guitar. At live performances Lara-Jane can most often be found performing either completely solo accompanying herself either on guitar or keyboard, or playing as a duo with a sensational Sunshine Coast guitarist by the name of Scott Mathison, who brings his own unique style and creativity to the interpretation and delivery of her songs. Since late 2008, Lara-Jane has been focusing on recording and performing her originals, as well as developing a deliciously diverse repertoire of cruisey, acoustic covers of beautiful or unusual songs from the 1960's through to now. Lara-Jane is now getting busy putting together a band to perform her original music with, so keep an ear and an eye out for this development later in 2009... You may also find Lara-Jane strutting her stuff around the place with one jazz band or another, as it's no secret that she and her voice are quite enamoured with the whole jazz/funk/blues realm. Her natural affinity for singing in this idiom began to emerge in her final years of high school when she was asked to serve as lead vocalist with the jazz band. From there she went on to feature with the Queensland Wind and Brass and other smaller outfits around Brisbane and Sydney after high school. She eventually formed her own professional jazz duo ("Cruise Medium") in 2007 with Brisbane guitarist and songwriter, Chris Anderson. Together they produced an album and performed regularly between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast until 2009. Lara-Jane's own songwriting style has meandered around and covered a great distance already, exploring her eclectic taste, whilst discerning her true musical desires. Whilst she has spent a lot of time so far performing jazz and blues n' roots, there is a lot more yet for audiences to discover. She has written a large number of songs that are well outside those categories and really only sit in the good old "other" category at present, because they're such a fusion of styles. Her tendency is to create songs that she finds perfectly interesting and beautiful in their completely raw, unproduced state, however she also takes great pleasure in the layering process when producing them in the studio. Lara-Jane admires and seeks to learn from artists who can write with honesty and compassion and stand steadfast in the face of enormous social pressure to be someone other than who they are. Some artists who've had a strong influence on Lara-Jane's songwriting and musical journey are: Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Billy Joel, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Alanis Morisette, Lior, Van Morrison, Supertramp, Jack Johnson, Stringmansassy, Norah Jones and the one and only, Eva Cassidy. Lara-Jane is enjoying playing around her local area and promoting her new EP, "Wonder Floating Free" and hopes to join the Australian Festival Circuit later this year and looks forward to touring internationally in the not-too-distant future. If you'd like Lara-Jane to come and play in your neck of the woods or if you'd simply like to make contact please feel free to visit her website contact page or email info@lara-janethompson.com.

Lara-Jane. A music-loving-guitar-toting-movie-buff... reformed-chocolate-addict-nature-girl... mildly-obsessive-compulsive-clothes-peg-colour-coordinator... night-owl-arty-chick-lover-of-mangoes & generally shy kind of person who, paradoxically, loves performing for people. Born in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane (QLD, Australia) in the early 80's, Lara-Jane spent much of her young life whiling away the days with her brother, creating magical worlds out of whatever they had. Doonas could easily be transformed into igloos, ice-cream tubs became swimming pools that one could snorkel in for hours (literally). It was a beautiful time when the purpose of life was basically just to play as much as possible for as long as possible. Growing up in the 80's and 90's, however, was not all fun and games. Lara-Jane was one of many children scarred for life by the constant painful and unnecessary fashion choices of those adults who should have known better. Aside from this cruel and not so unusual torture, life was fairly cushy. Her parents, avid music fans and musicians themselves, instilled in her a great love of music and contributed greatly to her eclectic taste. Playing and performing around campfires, family gatherings and Sunday school was her training ground and as such, she will always hold a very special place in her heart for the I, IV, V chord progression. Performing from a young age, Lara-Jane has developed an ease and comfort with the audience and a unique and engaging stage presence. Singing is Lara-Jane's main thing, but she also plays piano and guitar. At live performances Lara-Jane can most often be found performing either completely solo accompanying herself either on guitar or keyboard, or playing as a duo with a sensational Sunshine Coast guitarist by the name of Scott Mathison, who brings his own unique style and creativity to the interpretation and delivery of her songs. Since late 2008, Lara-Jane has been focusing on recording and performing her originals, as well as developing a deliciously diverse repertoire of cruisey, acoustic covers of beautiful or unusual songs from the 1960's through to now. Lara-Jane is now getting busy putting together a band to perform her original music with, so keep an ear and an eye out for this development later in 2009... You may also find Lara-Jane strutting her stuff around the place with one jazz band or another, as it's no secret that she and her voice are quite enamoured with the whole jazz/funk/blues realm. Her natural affinity for singing in this idiom began to emerge in her final years of high school when she was asked to serve as lead vocalist with the jazz band. From there she went on to feature with the Queensland Wind and Brass and other smaller outfits around Brisbane and Sydney after high school. She eventually formed her own professional jazz duo ("Cruise Medium") in 2007 with Brisbane guitarist and songwriter, Chris Anderson. Together they produced an album and performed regularly between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast until 2009. Lara-Jane's own songwriting style has meandered around and covered a great distance already, exploring her eclectic taste, whilst discerning her true musical desires. Whilst she has spent a lot of time so far performing jazz and blues n' roots, there is a lot more yet for audiences to discover. She has written a large number of songs that are well outside those categories and really only sit in the good old "other" category at present, because they're such a fusion of styles. Her tendency is to create songs that she finds perfectly interesting and beautiful in their completely raw, unproduced state, however she also takes great pleasure in the layering process when producing them in the studio. Lara-Jane admires and seeks to learn from artists who can write with honesty and compassion and stand steadfast in the face of enormous social pressure to be someone other than who they are. Some artists who've had a strong influence on Lara-Jane's songwriting and musical journey are: Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Billy Joel, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Alanis Morisette, Lior, Van Morrison, Supertramp, Jack Johnson, Stringmansassy, Norah Jones and the one and only, Eva Cassidy. Lara-Jane is enjoying playing around her local area and promoting her new EP, "Wonder Floating Free" and hopes to join the Australian Festival Circuit later this year and looks forward to touring internationally in the not-too-distant future. If you'd like Lara-Jane to come and play in your neck of the woods or if you'd simply like to make contact please feel free to visit her website contact page or email info@lara-janethompson.com.